On a voyage of discovery through 200 years of Salzburg’s musical history at original locations in the DomQuartier: “Music everywhere!

The pandemic is far from being mastered. “The race has long been lost. It will be like in England”, says virologist Melanie Brinkmann today (5.02.21) in an interview on Spiegel online. This is not an optimistic outlook, even if the number of infections is currently on the decline. We may have to come to terms with further setbacks and complications.

In Austria, the strict lockdown is to be partially relaxed on Monday. In addition to regulations for other areas of life, museums and libraries, libraries and archives will also be reopened from 8 February 2021 – with FFP2 masks. And so the DomQuartier in Salzburg will dare to take its first steps back to normality as of Monday.

“Music everywhere!” Musical voyage of discovery at original venues

In 2020, the DomQuartier dedicated itself to Salzburg’s great musical tradition, which is inextricably linked to the history and spaces of the Residenz and Dom areas and was established long before the Salzburg Festival.

Splendid times, illustrious guests, magnificent festivities and splendid music, an international star-studded cast and important premieres already took place under the prince-archbishops in the 17th and 18th centuries in places that still exist today, such as the Residenz with its Carabinieri Hall, Knights’ Hall, Throne Hall and Schöner Galerie, as well as Salzburg Cathedral.

Evening entertainment in an exclusive setting.

“Music Everywhere” invites you to immerse yourself in the time of the prince archbishops and their court composers, tells of pompous events for distinguished guests, of large and small celebrations on special occasions, of evening entertainments in exclusive settings and of musicians who were an indispensable part of this wide-ranging princely-representative festive business.

The DomQuartier sheds light on Salzburg’s musical history since Prince-Archbishop Wolf Dietrich von Raitenau (r. 1587-1612), who created the basis for a long-lasting period of musical prosperity with his new regulation of the “high princely musica”. The court composers had to supply all areas that played a role in ecclesiastical and secular court life with music, rehearse the new compositions and direct the performances. All common and modern musical genres of the time were cultivated.

Authenticity in historical spaces

The exhibition designers – Virgil Widrich (checkpointmedia) and Hans Kudlich (Studio Kudlich) – developed selective modern architectural interventions that make it possible to experience the festivities and music of the time and serve as projection surfaces for installations of the visitors’ imagination. This makes the authenticity of the historical premises tangible.

So you can immerse yourself in culture live again from Monday in Salzburg, albeit with a hygiene concept and mask. Let’s hope that this is indeed the beginning of a return to normal life. And let’s hope that Melanie Brinkmann’s fears don’t come true. And that we can slowly look forward to queer events in the Schöne an der Salzach.

From 8 February 2021 “Music Everywhere!” in the DomQuartier. Extended until 2 January 2022 due to Corona.